Lawn-mower



R. R. KITCHEL.

LAWN MOWER APP-L`ICATION FILED SEPT. 24, 1920.

1,389,249. y PatenteaAug. 30,1921.

PATENT OFFICE. A

ROBERT R. KITCHEL, F RIDLEY PARK, PENNSYLVANIA.

` LAwNMowmt.

' Specification ouf/Letters Patent. Patented Aug. 30, 1921.

Application filed ,September 24, 1920. Serial No. 412,521.

To all whom t mwg/ comerme Be it known that I, Ronnn'r AR. KrroHnL, a

. citizen of the United States, residing at Ridley Park, county ofDelaware, and Statel of 5. Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Lawn-Mowers, of which the following is a full, clear, andexactfde scription, reference being had to the'accompanying drawings,which-form a part of this specification.

. My invention relates to lawn-mowers, rollers or the like,- of thehand-pushed variety, .and has for its object facilit1es for pushing themachine in a different 'path from that traveled by theoperator.

1The principal object of my invention. is to `enable an operator to`cutor roll the grass upon a bank-or'terrace without himself be'- ingobliged to walk upon the inclined sur- 2 0 face and supportl himselfprecariously as well as ropel his machine along theslope.

Many awns are broken by terraces of three 0r four -feet'` in height anddifficulty has alwaysbeen encountered in caring for same 2K5Udu'e to thefact that the operator has been obliged to follow in the wakeof themachine.

"Ierraces should be trimmed longitudinally and it is'usually necessaryto cut several swaths along the inclined surface, where the l operatoris required to maintain his foot-ing midway up the slope and propel hismachine before him. The `.result is many slippings and much digging ofheels into sod on each trip back and forth. c 3,5 'n my invention, Iadjust the pushing handle of the mower at an angle to the blades thatis, I provide means for changin ljsaldangle thirty degrees'or more,either si' e, from the central right-angle position,

' A4.0 whereby the mower vmay be ushed along a path parallel to andseveral eet away from v@fthe path of the operator. j Thus, the mowermaybe made to cut a longitudinal swath mid- V way up a terrace while theoperator is walking on` the-level at the foot of the terrace.

nection with a lawn-mower,but it is underquadrant 7. The handle 8is'pivoted at 9,

one ofwhich is in central line.

a, Fig. 2. This force is divisible into two able from the normal to theangular position or b ack again, the machine can be used in the ordinarymanner on lawns and all fiat places, and when occasionarises the angularmove may be made as desired. f H avlngthus described the function andob- ]ect of my invention, I will now proceed with a detaileddescription, in connection with. the accompanying drawings, in which:

Flgure l is a picture view showing my improved lawn-mower .in use.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a lawn-'mower embodying my invention.

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional View of the pivotal -connection of thehandle.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of same partly broken This description and showingare in constood, as previously stated, that the idea may also be appliedto rollers, etc.

The prlmary object of the invention is at once seen lfrom Fig. 1. .Themachine comprises wheels 5 and a frame (3 carrying a 80 the center ofthe quadrant, and extends out to the usual cross-piece 10.`

The quadrant is provided with notches 11, rIfhe handle carries aAcentrally located latch 12 for coacting with notches 11 to hold thehandle in any position set. The latch is connected to a rod 1 3,slidably carried by the handle and ex'- tendingout to a point convenientto crosspiece 10, where it terminates in a trigger 14. A spring 15 ismounted in the handle, about rod 13, and tends to keep the latch 12always pressed into one of the notches of the quadrant, from which itmay be withdrawn by pulling onthe trigger 14.

As the mower is shown in use in Fig. l, the handle is turned to one sideand the pushing force is applied inthe direction of the arrowcomponents, the greater of which, b, pushes the mower-ahead, and thelesser, c, at right. angles to b, tends to press the mower up theincline, making it the'more readily held to cut a horizontal swath.

When the operator ets to the end of his swath on the terrace, 'e simplypulls trigger 14C with his finger, releasing thelatch and then turns hishandle to the opposite side until thelatch alls into the notch-on that110 side,`when he is ready to take a return out i have shownonly asingle notch 11 either -combination' with ahand1e,a pivot in a planenormal to the axis vof the cutting`member,

said handles mounted on said plvot to vbe adjustable sidewise, and meansfor fixing it in adjusted angular relation to said axis whereby theoperator does not follow in thel wake of his machine, Ifor use onterraces.

2. In a lawn-mower, a cuttlng member 1n comblnation wltha pushingmember, a plvot for the pushing member -in a plane at right angles tothecutting member, and means comprising a quadrant and a spring latch`whereby the pushing member may be fixed in angularvrelation to thecutting member 4for cutting a swath aty a distance Vfrom b`ut parallelto the' path of the operator.V

3. A lawn-mower comprising a 4cutting member, a push-baranda rigidcross-piece handle, a horizontally disposed quadrant and latching. meansfor/detachably securing the push-bar to said quadrant whereby the.

cross-piece handle may be set at different' angles to the swath.

' 4. A lawn-mower for cutting terraces',

" vcomprising cutters, supporting` wheels, a

push-bar, a -`crosspiece handle ri idly secured at right angles to thepushar, said push-bar being adjustable about a vertical pivot to formananglewith the axis of the` cutters whereby said cross-piece handle maybe so positioned that an extensionthereof will form an acute angle withsaid axis, and means to secure said sition. Y

5. A hand-pushed lawn-mower comprising a cutting finember, a bailpivoted to the cutting member and a handle pivoted to the bail on anaxis at right angles to that of the cutting member, in combination witha quadrant in the plane of the turning handle, notches in the quadrant,a spring plunger .inthe handle coacting' with sa1d notches, 'and meansoperable from the outer end of the handle to retract said plunger,whereby the operator may adjust the mower tov cut Aa swath to one sideof and parallel to his own path.

-6. A lawn-mower havinga cross-piece handle, a pivot in a vertical planeon which pivot'the handle 'is mounted to turn from side to side, a selfacting latch for fixing the handle in lateral angular position withrespect to the mower, and means for withpush-bar in set podrawing saidlatch whereby said angle can, i

be chanv ed when desired.

7. A' awn-mower comprlsing, 1n comblnatlon, cutters, aplvot 1n avertlcal plane,

a laterally swinging push-bar mounted ,on

said. pivot, a cross-.piece handle immovably fixed tothe end of saidlpush-bar, and means for locking ,the push-bar in central`or in lateralposition for the purposes set forth In testimony of which invention,Il'have hereunto set my hand, at Philadelphia, on

this 23rd day of 'Se tember, 1920.

Ro ERTQR. KITCHEL, I

